Last night, crabby me; lucky me, maybe, because it was for a good cause, but I did not enjoy the sleep study. I was getting tested for sleep apnea, though both the doctor and I suspect it’s more likely new allergies are the impediment to my night breathing and sleep. It was genuinely interesting to have the nice and friendly technician, Mohammad, explain to me all that was being monitored as he wired me up (dang! A perfect Selfie op missed!), including not only my breathing and pulse oxygen levels and heart rate but also limb motion for possible restless-leg syndrome, and EEG to see whether I have any detectable brain activity at any time. Unlikely, as you all know.

But I also wasn’t supremely keen on driving a half hour on our yucky under-construction-ripped-up-everywhere freeway to the lab and back—in an incipient thunderstorm on the return—for a wonderfully UN-restful 9:30 pm-5 am “sleep” that probably totaled about 5 hours of actual unconsciousness. For a person who craves 9-11 hours at a minimum (also a reason for the apnea testing), not my idea of restful. Getting awakened in the pre-dawn dark and effectively kicked out of the house is not my favorite thing even when I know it’s to take off for a fabulous vacation! This morning, of course, in addition to knowing I was going to have a very short night, I was freezing under a skinny blanket with the ceiling fan helicoptering madly over my head, and was told to stay on my back the whole time, too, my least common or favored sleeping position in the first place. I sure hope I’m right about not having apnea, ’cause then I don’t have to go back next week and do this again but with a night breathing Apparatus being fitted.

Although it was almost worth it all to get home and look in the mirror while I washed up and see what looked like humongous globs of snot here and there in my hair. Good thing the scalp sensors are glued on with water-soluble stuff!!! Something sort of like the old-fashioned butch wax my spouse and many of his pals used to groom their flattop haircuts when they were kids. Scrub, scrub, scrub. The body sensors were attached with a more typical bandage adhesive, so they just left grimy circles of a suction-cup sort here and there on my shoulders and legs. So many remembrances of my special time. Here’s to this being a one-time thing.

Needless to say, back home at 6:30 this morning, I washed my snotty hair and piled right into my own bed for another 5 hours, my actual night’s sleep. And then took a 2 hour nap late in the afternoon to top it off. Don’t want to be too tired to sleep through the whole night tonight, no matter how clear my breathing is. I have priorities, you know.